The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

Cet breaking news on your cell phone Text DELNEWS to 44636 to gt't breaking local news as it happens. 4 'I V. a. 75( FINAL EDITION SATURDAY Dec. 12, 2009 CD a PJ1 oliclay hopping I season snunes a ore in Consumers starting to spend; discounts may brighten outlook Black Friday, the day after and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, brought a good turnout at Best Buy in Christiana News Journal ment's retail-sales report for November was encouraging.

Sales rose 1.3 percent the healthiest advance since August and more than double the increase economists had expected. Most economists have been concerned that high unemployment could depress spending and drag down an economy struggling to emerge from the worst recession since the 1930s. Sec ECONOMY A7 By MARTIN CRUTSINGER and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO Associated Press WASHINGTON Just in time for Christmas, the fragile economic recovery is showing signs of strengthening: Consumers are spending, companies are rebuilding stockpiles and Chinese exports are mounting a comeback. Data released Friday eased some worries about Americans' willingness to spend this holiday season. But stores remain worried that they may have to offer deeper discounts than planned, perhaps as early as this weekend, because of mediocre sales so far.

Most stores have reported lackluster results for the start of the holiday season, so the Commerce Depart- Li-. y-VW Ik'dn. Shoes that walk your butt off? Reebok cites UD data in saying it has just the footwear City claims WHYYis giving Del. short shrift By ADAM TAYLOR The News Journal WILMINGTON WHYY Channel 12's request to renew its broadcasting license is being challenged because of skepticism about the public television station's commitment to the city, officials said Friday. The objection with the Federal Communications Commission is being filed because Wilmington is the station's host city but believes it is more committed to serving Philadelphia, said John Rago, the city's communications director.

City Council President Norman D. Griffiths also accused WHYY of contending that Wilmington is the base of its operations even though the bulk of the news it covers is not Wilmington-based. "The station rprtainlv I EE; I 'i 'JA vrri V' I t. I i lit -miirtifnte-- wili'iM has every right to look for Ohl'prtl'nn the cheapest office and stu- J1 1 with FCC dio space it can find, but programming focused on Wilmington events has already been curtailed," he said. "So if they are going to leave the city or the state or cut even more challenges station's mijiiii rlit litr-lillOTfij ming, our feeling is that reQUCSt to renew license est about their intentions." The broadcaster also is receiving $500,000 from Delaware in 2009, down from previous vears when The News Journal JENNIFER CORBETT Louisa Bayard, 25, of Wilmington, tries on a pair of Reebok EasyTones sneakers Friday at Dick's Sporting Goods in Talleyville.

A University of Delaware product testing used just five women, but the company is using the results in an advertisement and women are buying it Company claims they sculpt, but size of study creates skeptics formed last summer at the University of Delaware may not be as definitive as it sounds. Even the researcher who conducted the study said it wouldn't be considered scientifically reliable because only five people were used to test the shoes. Reebok paid an undisclosed sum to the university and Todd D. Royer, an associate professor in the Department of Health, Nutrition Exercise Sciences during the summer of 2008. Royer studies the health of muscles and the nerves that control them.

See SHOES A6 and buttocks. "I very rarely buy sneakers, but I'm more willing to spend money on something that could give me a potential benefit," Tarpine said of the $100 shoes. "What really jumped out to me is that this would be an additional source of toning and exercise." Reebok a unit of Adidas says in advertisements that EasyTones work women's gluteal muscles 28 percent harder than regular walking shoes. It also says they work hamstrings and calves 11 percent harder. But the data based on results of a study per By HIRAN RATNAYAKE The News Journal Erica Tarpine has hinted to her husband that EasyTones would make a good Christmas gift.

That's because finding the time to work out sometimes means "you have to make concessions," she said. The concessions she's describing are related to Reebok's claims that its latest exercise shoes not only will make women walk better, but will sculpt and tone their calves, thighs it got more than $600,000 from state taxpayers, University of Delaware Professor Leland Ware said earlier this year. Ware has served on the WHYY board of directors as well. WHYY is receiving another $1.1 million from Pennsylvania this year. Government funding accounted for 13 percent of WHYY's revenue in 2008: the rest came from contributions and corporate funding.

Chris Satullo, WHYY's executive director of news and civic dialogue finds Wilmington's opposition "ironic and perplexing." "Councilman Steve Martelli, for example, has been on the news show five times and the mayor has been on multiple times as well," he said. "The whole notion that we're not fulfilling our obligation to covering Wilmington news is not true, and they know that full well, so their position is more than a little hard to understand." WHYY spokesman Art Ellis admitted that Delaware-based shows have been reduced. He also said the station is looking to move from downtown Orange Street the longtime site of its studio in favor of a smaller, less expensive spot. "But the location we're looking for is still within the city of Wilmington." he said. "The city, in its own public statements, has said that their challenge is not an adversarial move against us.

I think they are simply wanting to keep their stake in having us there, which is fine." See WHYY A6 Dover aiming to regulate race weekend parking By JAMES MERRIWEATHER The News Journal DOVER In the name of safety and to the relief of many residents here, city officials say they want to enforce parking policies during the two NASCAR race weekends at Dover International the proposed ordinance, "and we got one heck of a rainstorm that weekend." It is those spots that town leaders are trying to regulate. The ordinance would require that all vehicles are parked in lots that allow for the free flow of traffic, especially emergency vehicles. See DOVER A6 track seats 140,000 people, so thousands of other parking spots are offered by hundreds of residents and commercial enterprises located within 20 minutes of the speedway. "We've had cars parking in a dry stormwater pond," said Ann Marie Townshend, the city's planning and inspections chief and a co-author of For two weeklong stretches during the year, fans in cars, trucks and recreational vehicles clog the city's roads and parking lots, making life miser-able for locals trying to go about their normal business. Dover Downs offers 3,500 parking spots for campers, offered for a flat fee of $60, and 9,500 spots for cars.

But the Proposed rules seek to improve safety, limit gridlock INDEX inside TODAY'S WEATHER Details on A4 HANUKKAH nil i a iini ir CELEBRATING DEVOTION Our Lady of Guadalupe a by 1 1 iuuI Away from their homes and families, University of Delaware students light the menorah at the Hillel center. Bl Business A8 Classified Dl Comics B4 Crossword B6 Dear Abby B6 Editorial A10 Letters A10 Lotteries B3 Movies B7 Obituaries B10 Police B3 Scoreboard C5 Sports CI Stocks A9 TV listing B6 38 27 Wilmington: Mostly sunny. Wind 10-15 mph. rtOO1), The New Jamaica Abmettnewpjper 131st yw. No.

193 and compassion" for many Hispanics in Delmarva. B5 50 .1 i HOUSE PASSES FINANCE REGULATION BILL Measure aims to set rules for banking institutions large and small. A2 0 "46901 $2 0aIW 1.